What I Ate Wednesday #60: The. Best. Pizza.

This is not a joke. We found the best pizza in Baltimore. Saturday night Nathan and I decided to knock another restaurant off of our bucket list and headed over to Verde Pizza. This is another relatively new spot in town and we had pretty high hopes after seeing some amazing-looking pictures on their facebook page.

Margherita Pizza

Vedura Delizia – smoked bufala mozzarella, roasted butternut squash cream, zucchini, roasted red peppers, basil & evoo

Hard to argue with the looks of those pizzas, right? Right. So we made our way over.

The kitchen was pretty open and there were 2 chefs making the pizzas right up front. I always love watching the food being made!

Open kitchen

I sipped on a glass of Nero D’Avola as we waited for our appetizers. It was a great choice; very easy drinking, light tannins, and a little bit fruity. I loved it!

In case you don’t know what a glass of red wine looks like..

Appetizers

Tre Porcellini – Roasted vegetable trio of red pepper, eggplant, and mushroom,
served with homemade foccacia

The Tre Porcellini consisted of three roasted vegetables—that night they offered mushrooms, red peppers, and eggplant—served with homemade foccacia. They were all great, but the slightly-sweet red pepper was my favorite. The eggplant, however, had a little extra olive oil on it that was perfect for dipping the bread in!

Insalata Mista – Spring mix with grape tomatoes, EVOO, and balsamic glaze

We also split the Insalata Mista. Such a simple salad but all of the ingredients were so fresh. The grape tomatoes were like candy and the balsamic glaze was just sweet enough. We also got a little parmesan on the side to sprinkle on top. I would highly recommend that!

Pizza

The best way to test a pizza place is to get their margherita pizza. That was our original plan, but when my pizza-loving husband set his eyes on the menu, it was quickly decided that we would be ordering 2 pizzas. Another night to take home leftovers! [It’s kind of our thing now.. ;)]

Margherita – Tomato sauce, homemade mozzarella, basil, EVOO

As soon as Nathan took his first bite he said he was immediately transported back to Gusta Pizza, our favorite pizza in Italy. The crust is so light and perfectly crisp. We loved the char on the outer edges from the brick oven, there was the perfect amount of the rich, flavorful tomato sauce, and the homemade mozzarella was so creamy.

Salsiccia e Funghi – Tomato sauce, homemade mozzarella, sausage, wild mushrooms,
fresh ricotta, basil, EVOO

When I asked the waitress how the Salsiccia e Funghi pizza is, she replied “you know, standard awesome.” She was spot on. The sausage was just a little bit smokey which paired well with the meaty mushrooms. The dollop of homemade ricotta cheese in the middle might have been my favorite part. I don’t think I’ve ever had such creamy, melty ricotta before and I could have gone for more on top!

I know I said we made this bucket list so we could get to a bunch of restaurants before we head to California, but we are seriously considering heading back to Verde again. Can’t you see it in Nathan’s face? 😉

So pensive.

Food for Thought

Have you ever tasted a dish that transported you back to another time in your life?

What’s the best pizza you’ve ever had?

What I Ate Wednesday #11 – Day Tripper

I bet you have that song stuck in your head now.

No? How about now?

Over the weekend, Nathan and I were tasked with seeing 2 wedding bands. The first one was in DC and with that being at least an hour away, we decided to make a day trip of it. Clearly the first thing to do when deciding on a day trip is to pick out where we can stop for lunch, drinks, and dinner. Who doesn’t plan their day around food?

Breakfast

Typical.. a chocolate coconut zucchini protein pancake (similar recipe to this guy!) topped with the new Earth Balance coconut & peanut spread, coconut, and cinnamon. Of course, I ha my Tone It Up Bombshell Spell and Chocolate Coconut coffee with almond milk. Between the coconut & peanut spread and the chocolate coconut coffee, I was in heaven!

P.S. Make sure to check back soon.. I’m hoping to be doing something fun with Earth Balance!

We made our way off to DC where we had reservations at Oyamel, a José Andrés restaurant. I love tapas restaurants and being able to taste a bunch of things makes it such a fun experience. I would definitely go back!

Lunch

We had to do it fancy and got a pitcher of Farmer’s Fresh Mimosas with plum and lemon verbena. Delicious! I could have had the whole pitcher myself 🙂 The fresh salsa was wonderful and the Mexican squash salad was light and delicious. I loved the topping of queso fresco and crushed peanuts. This is definitely a dish I would consider a summer staple.

I followed that up with a chicken taco with their homemade guacamole and grilled scallion. I have to admit, the guacamole might have been my favorite part of the meal (other than the mimosas!) Next time, I’m definitely getting that to start! I also had a fish taco with pico de gallo. Once again, so fresh and light. We each finished off our meal with Mexican coffee. Full of flavor and a nice jolt to our systems! It was a great meal and so nice to have a light lunch before hitting the town!

After lunch, we explored DC a bit. We took a nice walk over to the Lincoln Monument and then found some much needed air conditioning at the American History Museum. The heat must have messed with our heads; once we cooled off at the museum, we realized we’d much rather cool off with a beer. Off to RFD! After splitting the pitcher of mimosas, I decided to keep it at one beer. What was that beer you ask? Oh, I can’t remember because I forgot to take a picture! Professional blogger over here 😉

Don’t you worry though, I definitely didn’t forget to take a picture of my froyo!

Snack

I don’t mess around with froyo (also a very important summer staple.) Mostly peanut butter with a touch of cheesecake, dulce de leche, and coconut. And of course I had to top it with peanut butter cups. I have a slight obsession with chocolate and peanut butter. Can you tell?

Dinner

Since Nathan indulged my obsession, I indulged his and we went for pizza for dinner! Matchbox features tons of pizzas with a thin, crispy crust. We started off with the large apple/pear salad. I would give the salad a big miss next time. I wouldn’t call it a large and, unfortunately, I had no desire to take a picture of it. But at least we got a little veggie!

When it came to ordering the pizzas, we went back and forth with what we wanted to split. They have so many different kinds and they all sounded wonderful! If we could have, I would have gotten a different kind of pizza for each slice, but since we could only split it in half, we went for the Oven Dried Tomato with Fresh Mozzarella (their version of the margherita pizza) and the Veggie with roasted garlic, artichokes, oven dried tomatoes, pecorino romano, and mozzarella. We each tried a piece of each and went our separate ways. He finished the margherita and I finished the veggie. It’s why we work 🙂

And dessert? Oh right.. had that before dinner. Whoops! (I would have had another one if I had my chance!) We did finally make it to see the band, but the food was the real highlight of the day trip!

Speak Up!

Where is your favorite day trip? Do you plan where you’re going to eat before you head out or just see where the road takes you?

The Best Part of Wedding Planning

Food!

Last week my mom and I went to meet with a potential caterer for the wedding, Innovative Gourmet, and were rather surprised to find out that we would not only be discussing food, we would also be tasting!

One of the first things I said to Nathan when we got engaged was “OOH!! Now we get to taste cake!” So needless to say, I was excited! Unfortunately I arrived sans camera, so my camera phone had to do.

First Course
Chilled soup / Turkey, bacon, cheddar panini on pumpernickel bread

Both delicious and such a great combo!

Second Course
Grilled and roasted veggies / Vegetable flatbread / Duck bites with crunchy pecans / Smoked brisket on french baguette

In my opinion, you can never go wrong with grilled and roasted veggies. I ate those up! The duck was fantastic with the sweet crunch from the pecans and I loved the smoke flavor in the brisket.

Third Course
Polenta bar with shredded chicken, roasted peppers, sauteed spinach, smoked gouda, and bleu cheese.

This is such a fun idea; rather than doing the typical pasta bar, you substitute creamy polenta and put out a bunch of toppings. A make-your-own so everyone gets what they want. And each piece was equally tasty.

Fourth Course
Chop salad / Heirloom tomato and buffalo mozzarella salad over asparagus with frisee and balsamic reduction

I’m not a huge chop salad fan, but the heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad is right up my alley. I love the layered, deconstructed visual appeal of the dish, and the flavors were fantastic!

Fifth Course
Brown butter rockfish over roasted corn, carrots, green beans, & red pepper / Pistachio crusted lamb over roasted vegetables and tzatziki

The rockfish was flaky and delicious, but the lamb stole the show. It was cooked perfectly; so tender and flavorful, and the pistachio crust gave it a beautiful crunch. We took a few leftovers home, but the lamb was not one of them.

Sorry Nathan. (Not really……)

Sixth Course
A beautiful assortment of petit fours

What can I say? I’m a sucker for sweets! Chocolate. Chocolate. And more chocolate. And a few other bites of desserts, but my favorites were all of the chocolates!

This has definitely been the most fun I’ve had during the wedding planning thus far and it makes me so excited for more tastings!

As for the caterer choice? Decisions still to come…

Speak Up!

If you’re married or engaged, what was your favorite part of planning? And if you’re not married or engaged, what are you most looking forward to while planning?

Don’t forget! Today is the last day to enter my giveaway for a chance to win a case of CalNaturale Svelte! Don’t miss it.. entries accepted until 11:59pm EST! Four lucky winners will be chosen Friday morning!